Insight from Dr Helen Webberley

Gender-affirming care is not just surgery Gender-affirming care is a broad term for any support that helps a person live in alignment with their gender identity. It includes social steps such as a name change or new pronouns, psychological…

US trans youth healthcare under legal attack Trans youth healthcare in the US is facing simultaneous pressure from state-level bans, federal DOJ investigations, congressional subpoenas, and a Trump HHS report alleging fraudulent billing at…

Are puberty blockers reversible? Puberty blockers pause puberty and their effects are largely reversible when stopped. They work by mimicking GnRH, a hormone the brain naturally produces to suppress puberty in early childhood. When…

How the media fails trans people and silences their voices Mainstream media consistently fails trans people by covering their lives, healthcare, and rights without meaningfully including trans voices. Outlets like the New York Times have published extensive…

Puberty blockers: precocious puberty vs gender dysphoria Puberty blockers for precocious puberty and gender dysphoria are the same medications: GnRH analogues that pause the hormonal cascade driving puberty. The drug, the dose, and the delivery method are…

Oestrogen therapy and athletic performance: what the evidence shows Oestrogen therapy in trans women reduces haemoglobin to female levels within roughly a year, lowers muscle mass, and decreases strength over two to three years, bringing aerobic and endurance…

HRT effects on height, bone density and skeletal structure Hormone replacement therapy affects bone density and can produce modest soft-tissue and cartilage changes, but it cannot alter the height or skeletal frame established during natal puberty once…

What does transgender mean? Transgender describes moving from the gendered role assigned at birth to the one that fits best, whether that is male, female, non-binary, agender, two-spirit, or something else entirely. It is an…

Trans activism and solidarity: how to organise and act Trans activism and solidarity take many forms: street-level protests and Pride marches, online petitions and letter-writing campaigns, fundraisers for trans people in crisis, mutual aid networks that…

Can a GP refuse a bridging prescription? A GP can decline a bridging prescription, but they are not required to refuse one. The GMC and RCGP both recognise that prescribing hormones to a trans person on a long waiting list is a legitimate…

NHS trans healthcare: waiting lists, costs and the DIY crisis NHS gender clinic waiting lists now exceed 80 months in many parts of the UK, with some clinics projecting waits measured in decades rather than years. Private care is available but costs hundreds of…

Anti-trans disinformation: how to recognise and counter it Anti-trans disinformation typically arrives in a handful of recurring shapes: safety rhetoric that frames trans inclusion as a threat, false balance that treats trans existence as a debate, appeals…